


Remember when...

by Maeve_Lynn



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: 100 Themes Challenge, And more stories, Angst Stories, Gen, Sad Stories, different themes, funny stories, happy stories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:13:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23162302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maeve_Lynn/pseuds/Maeve_Lynn
Summary: Every year, all the Rangers come together for the annual Gathering. Besides training, exams and the other things they usually do, they love to tell their stories. It could be about the renewing of the Corps, a funny action of an apprentice or how he tricked his mentor. Some have been told over at least a hundred times, others are brand new. Every evening there’s time to tell them, but the most stories will be told at the Story Evening, the evening before the big feast which marks the end of the Gathering.In this “Remember when…” collection, I will write a hundred stories using the 100 themes challenge with the use of a number generator.There will be funny ones, but also some with angst, fear and other feelings. The stories will be about different characters set in different times: Halt, Will, Horace, Alyss and everyone else. They'll all have a story to tell. Sometimes together with others, sometimes about themselves.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	1. Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Will's first, real Gathering. Little does he know, that he has to undergo the traditional "Introduction" of the Ranger Corps. He trained hard for his first, official exams. But will it be enough, taking in mind he still recovers from Skandia?

Will was very excited to go to the Gathering. He had been to one in his first year, but that turned out in the haunt for the Kalkara and defeating them. The second one he missed because he and the princess had been taken prison and brought to Skandia. There was a Gathering, but Halt wasn’t there either. He and Horace had travelled miles to rescue the two teenagers. After that, Will had had a difficult time dealing with the trauma’s, but he begged Halt to go. The grizzle Ranger wasn’t sure, but seeing the sparkles in Will’s eyes, he had agreed. Now they were already riding for three days. Gilan would join them on the last miles, just like two years ago.

“Did you hear me Will?” Halt glanced to his left, where Will was.

The boy bit his lip and tried to remember his ask. After a few seconds, he shook his head.

“Sorry Halt, I didn’t.”

His mentor looked in front of him and pointed at something in the distance.

“I asked if you could see those clouds.”

Will straightened his legs and stood in the stirrups. He placed his right hand above his eyes to block the light of the sun. It took some time, but then he saw it. It wasn’t much, but there were indeed some clouds.

“What can you tell me about it?” Halt asked.

“It’s white, and quite slim. That means it’s source isn’t big and looking at the location, I would say it’s from a fire. A small one, for one person.”

He sat back in his saddle and waited for Halt’s reaction.

“Very well. Any idea who it could be?”

Will thought about that for a moment. There was a big road a few miles back, but they rode on a small path. It was very difficult to find it, only a few people could know it. There weren’t any farmers in the neighbourhood, so that wasn’t an option. Who else could be sitting over there? Maybe some robbers or poachers? But he threw these thoughts away as well. There were barely animals living in the forest they were heading to. He came to a conclusion.

“It must be a Ranger. There are no farmers around, nor is this a place to hunt. It could be a robber, but I doubt it. There are no houses and there is no food, so he wouldn’t stay here for long.”

Halt nodded.

“Excellent Will,” was all he said, but to Will it meant the world.

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. He lifted his nose and took a deep breath. Suddenly, he smiled.

“Something wrong with your face?”

“No, absolutely not. To be honest, it’s even the best!”

The older Ranger became suspicious. When Will talked like that and with that face, it wasn’t always good news.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a Ranger.”

Halt still didn’t understand anything. All Will did, was tapping his nose. Halt raised his nose too and far, far in the distance he smelled a lovely smell.

“The last one there doesn’t get anything!”

He gave Abelard a tap with his feet and they ran away.

“That’s unfair, I smelled it first!”

Tug waited for Will’s signal before running at high speed. Mentor and apprentice ran head to head and the small clouds came closer and closer.

“Don’t try it boy, Abelard has run more miles than Tug ever has!”

Halt bent closer to his horse’s neck and encouraged him to run harder.

“Did you hear that Tug? We’ll show those old ladies what real running is!” 

The Ranger loosened the belt of the saddle.

“There you go. That’s better, isn’t it?”

Then, he prepared a small fire and took some food and his coffee beans. As soon as the twigs burned, he put his pot with the beans on it and waited until it was warm. He sat down and stretched his legs. Within some time he would join his friends on their way to the Gathering. He had been looking forward to it. Last year wasn’t as good as the other years. The other Rangers only talked about Halt’s treason and asked him about it. He refused to give any answers, mainly because he didn’t know the whole story as well. Aside from this, Crowley wasn’t in his best mood. Normally he would make some jokes, but then he hadn’t made a single one.

The tall Ranger stared into the distance. His horse ate some grass but stopped and moved her ears. She made a soft but warning sound. Gilan stood up and petted her.

“What is it Blaze? What do you hear?”

He looked in the same direction as she did, and he thought he heard some hoofs. Listening better, he could hear these weren’t normal horses.

“Those bastards. Can’t a Ranger enjoy his own coffee?”

He waited until the sounds became dots at the horizon and then turned into two silhouettes with waving cloaks behind them. He saw how a small figure on a grey horse tried to stop the other by holding it’s reins, but that made them only go faster. At some point one of them, Gilan could see it was Halt, almost lost balance and slid to the right side. On the last moment, he found balance again and because of that, Will was the first one to arrive at Gilan’s camp.

“We did it Tug! We finally won from Halt!”

His excitement was difficult to hide and Gilan clapped in his hands.

“Look at that. The small boy beats it’s mentor. What’s wrong with you Halt, getting old?”

Halt also arrived and jumped on the ground.

“Hmpf. I didn’t lose, I let him win.”

“Of course you did. So that little moment of imbalance was just show?”

“Exactly! Now, where’s that coffee? I could use that by now.” 

Finally, they arrived at the Gathering ground.

“If you two go find a place, then I’ll see if I can find that old fox.”

Halt rode off to the big, white pavilion in the middle of the field. Gilan looked around and pointed to some trees in front of them.

“Seems like a good place to me. What about you Will?”

The teenager nodded in agreement.

“Wait a minute,” he said when they approached their place, “isn’t this the same spot?”

Gilan smiled.

“Yes, it is! Actually, this is the spot Halt chose when I went to my first Gathering. We’ve been using it ever since.” To prove it, Gilan wiped some moss of the nearest tree and called Will. “See?”

He stepped aside and Will touched the engravings. Vaguely, he could feel the names of Halt and Gilan. He was surprised when he saw a name starting with a C.

“C-r-o-w-l-e-y,” he read out loud.

“Crowley and Halt used to put their tents here, but when Crowley became our Commandant, he moved to the big pavilion over there.”

Will shook his head.

“Why doesn’t Halt tell me these things? Why does it feel like I have to hear it from others all the time?”

Gilan tilted his head a bit.

“Don’t worry boy, he did the same to me.”

They took their belongings and put up their tents. Halt had his still attached to Abelard’s saddle, but they already made the ground free of rocks, twigs and other things that could keep you awake during the night. By the time they finished their jobs, Halt arrived at their place. Within a few minutes, his tent was also set up and the men made a small fire. The smell of coffee filled their noses and Will closed his eyes. He felt how Halt gently touched his hand before giving his apprentice a cup with the steaming drink. It wouldn’t be complete without two spoons of honey, so Will searched for the jar.

“Looking for this?” he heard a cheerful voice saying.

Halt already had thought his friend would come to them and he held a cup above his head.

“Here, old fox. Don’t you dare to drop it,” Halt warned him.

Both Gilan and Will looked confused, so Crowley had to explain.

“Some years ago, Halt didn’t hold it right and when I wanted to take the mug, it fell and the coffee burned his neck. Until today, you can still see the burn.”

Crowley sat down and saw Halt’s deadly glance.

“Oh, come on Halt. It was an accident! I’m sure they also dropped some coffee, didn’t you?”

He looked at the two men in front of him, but they dodged his eyes. He had teased Halt enough, so Crowley changed the subject.

“Tell me, Will. How’s training going?”

He had heard a bit from Halt, but he also wanted to hear Will’s part. It had been a tough year for Will and although he was doing well, he still had to deal with a lot of things.

“I would say it’s going fine. Some days better than others, but every day I get more of my old strength back.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Don’t rush yourself into things. Take your time to get things done and you’ll see that everything’s gonna be fine.”

He drank the last of his coffee and stood up.

“I have to leave you now. I need to speak with the examiners about the last things. Talking about exams,” he turned to Will, “I’d like to see you tomorrow morning after breakfast. It’s nothing to worry about, but since this Gathering is your first official one, I want to inform you a bit about how we do exams, trainings etc. That’s okay?”

“Yes Crowley, I’ll be there.”

The Ranger tapped his sleep with two fingers and returned to his tent. 

After breakfast, Will went to Crowley’s tent. He didn’t know if had to knock of if standing there would be enough.

“You’re even faster than me!”

The apprentice turned around and saw the red-haired Ranger approaching.

“Sorry that I didn’t wait for you, all those apprentices with their endless questions.”

He smiled and gestured that Will could come inside. It wasn’t that big, but there was enough space for a desk and a chair and behind, he saw a vague shape of a bed.

“Sit down, young man and let’s get over this.”

Will made himself comfortable in the chair and was surprised when he could touch the ground. He checked it and Crowley laughed.

“You see, all my Rangers are… a little short. Except Gilan, of course.”

Will looked up and nodded in agreement. Crowley gathered some papers and laid them in front of Will. The boy could see that those were score paper. On the top was the name of the exam and his name and behind _mentor_ was Halt’s name.

“You see, nothing special at all. Here they can write some notes, things that need to be discussed or maybe something that was better than they expected.”

He also explained how exams would go, that there would be one or two examiners, depending on how many apprentices had to do the exam.

“Let’s see, did I forget something?”

The Ranger went through his beard and looked at his desk. _Did I almost forget the most important paper,_ he thought.

“I’ll add this to your exam files Will. If you want, you can check it.”

He gave the small paper and Will could read what was written on it.

_With this note, I want to remind you that Will, apprentice to Halt, didn’t had as much time as the others due to known reasons. However, he didn’t want to be excluded from taking his exams. Therefore I grand him something extra. If he needs some extra time to answer a question or fulfil the exercise, he gets that. It’s better to think longer about an answer than answering too quickly._

_Signed by Crowley Meratyn, Commandant of the Ranger Corps_

“Is it okay in that way?”

Will didn’t say a word.

“It’s not that you’re different than others Will. It happened before that an apprentice didn’t had the full time to train for his exams due to personal reasons. And it’s definitely nothing to be ashamed of. You hear me?”

Crowley touched his hand and saw the wet eyes of Will.

“I already thought it could be a bit surprising for you. That’s why your first exam will be tomorrow at 9 am. It will be tracking and Alun will be your examiner. I think you’ve already seen him before. He sat next to Halt yesterday evening, during dinner.”

Will was glad Alun would test him. He was a nice Ranger and, according to the other apprentices, very easy and helping.

“Alright, if you don’t have any questions left, you’re free to leave.”

Will stood up and walked outside. Crowley called him one last time.

“Will, see your exams as your trainings with Halt. If you can survive them, you surely will pass your exams!”

The days passed, as did Will’s exams. Some weren’t that easy but he had expected that. He was a third-year apprentice now, so they expected that the young men already learned enough to pass their exams. He gave the note to every examiner and they all agreed with it. Only once he needed the extra time. He had to plan an imaginary attack with slaves, archers and cavalry and that brought back some bad memories. Farrel and Berrigan recognized it and gave Will the time to relax again and come with a plan. They also helped him by asking questions and in the end, he had made a perfect plan. The Rangers looked at each other. They could see that Will had gone through hell and back, but he had learned from it and used his experiences to make a good plan. Of course, things could go wrong, but still. When Will had left the tent, Farrel wrote some words down at the bottom.

Will was still worried. He still hadn’t gotten his oakleaf back. He asked the other apprentices and only the first years weren’t wearing theirs. Only after they had passed their exams, they would be official apprentices. Will was confused. He was sure he had done well and that he had passed his exams, so why didn’t he have his insigne?

“What are you worrying about?”

Farrel was standing behind him and asked if he could sit next to Will.

“It’s just… that I’m worried I didn’t do my best and that I have to give my oakleaf back.”

Farrel smiled at him.

“Don’t be silly, lad. You did your best, right?”

The boy wasn’t sure, but he did agree with the older Ranger.

“Don’t think too much of it. It’ll be fine.”

In the distance, they heard some noise.

“I think we should go back. Dinner is almost ready. You’re coming?”

“You can go, I’ll follow you within a second.”

At the moment that the first Rangers attacked their meal, Will approached the tables.

“Will! Over here!”

He saw Gilan waving and walked towards him.

“I saved you a seat. Farrel told us you’d be a bit later.”

Will sat down between Halt and Gilan and waited until his plate was filled with food. It was rabbit stew, his favourite. The Rangers talked, laughed and joked the whole time and Will felt comfortable. That ended as soon as the plates were gathered together and put aside to be washed. Crowley walked to the small podium and raised his hands. The noise became less and less, until it disappeared.

“I hope you enjoyed your dinner, which was made by our rabbit stew master, Halt!”

A few Rangers clapped and other whistled. Again, while raising his hands, they paid attention to what their commandant had to say.

“As we all know, our apprentices made their exams and got the results back. Congratulations for all of them!”

He waited a minute and continued.

“And now as for our new apprentices: can all of you come forward?”

He said their names and three boys walked to the front.

“Wait a minute, that’s not all of you,” Crowley said. “Will, can you also come?”

All eyes turned to him and he almost chocked on his water.

“Don’t sit there, go!”

Halt gave him a push in his ribs and Will could swear he saw that Gilan tried to hide a smile. As he walked to the others, he felt more and more suspicious. He was directed to the end of the row and the three first years didn’t seem to understand either.

“Some may know them, others not. So I suggest that each one of you tell your name, who your mentor is and where you’re stationed.”

The first one in the row stepped forward and with a clear voice he introduced himself as Steven, stationed in Cordom and his mentor was Rayden. The second one, Sidney, lived in Dacton and was trained by Brian. Then it was time for the third apprentice to introduce himself. He was more nervous than the other apprentices and stumbled over his words, but they could hear his name was Oakley and that he was trained by Alex in Greenfield.

Now it was up to Will, but he still couldn’t believe it.

“But you already know me! Why do I have to introduce myself?!”

His voice went higher as the words left his mouth. His cheeks turned red the moment he saw that the Rangers in front of them were smiling. It had to be a joke, a very bad one.

“We don’t have the whole evening! Hurry up, otherwise I have to miss my evening coffee!”

He knew that voice! How could Gilan-

“Well?”

There was no other choice.

“My name’s Will, stationed in Redmont fief and Halt’s apprentice.”

For a moment there was no sound, then all the Rangers started to hit the tables with their fingers. Slowly, the rhythm became louder and lowered when Crowley spoke. In his hands he held the papers and behind him, the three mentors of the boys had gathered. They held their hands behind their backs and focused on their apprentices.

“Steven, with a score of 65%, I declare that from this moment on, you’re officially an apprentice of the Rangers Corps!”

The drumming became faster and louder, as Rayden put the oakleaf around the neck of the boy. Steven gave him a hand and touched with his other hand the bronze oakleaf. Then it was Sidney’s turn and after him Oakley’s. Crowley repeated his words and the drumming raised in volume again. There they stood, fresh apprentices and their proud teachers. Without releasing, Crowley stood next to Will.

“Will, as everyone know, you’re a third-years. You were never properly introduced in our Corps, and that’s why you’re standing here now.”

He cleared his throat and Will felt how his hands became sweaty and he crossed his fingers, hoping on a good result.

“Will, with a score of…”

And then he stopped. He looked up, searching Halt.

“Halt! Get up here! How can you let the boy stand here all alone with this score?”

Instantly, Will felt how his heart turned to stone. How was that possible? He had learned so hard for everything. How could he had failed his exams? Did he had to re do them? Would his oakleaf been taken away and would they make a hole in it? He shook his head. No, that couldn’t be possible!

“Will, you did your best. That’s the most important,” Halt whispered in his left ear.

“You’re right,” Will said, trying to hold his tears.

“With you finally being here, I can say that Will has uncommonly scored on his exams. I won’t make it longer than I have to. I declare that, with a perfect result, Will is now officially an apprentice of the Corps!”

At that moment a lot of things happened. The Rangers jumped up from their chairs, clapping and whistling. Halt put Will’s insigne around his neck and embraced him.

“I never doubted you’d pass them.”

Before he could respond, Will, Steven, Sidney and Oakley were taken from the podium and lifted in the air.

“Three hoorays’ for our new apprentices!” Gilan shouted above everyone.

At every hooray, they were thrown in the air and cached again. Afterwards, the party began and it was already midnight when Will finally fell asleep.

They had heard the last announcements and everyone said goodbye to their friends. Will was a bit sad that the Gathering was already over, but he was also glad to go back home. He had learned a lot and made new friends, including the first years. How much he liked it, he knew that he would need some time to restore his energy and get used to the routine in the cabin.

“Are you ready?” Gilan asked.

They were one of the last ones to leave. Redmont wasn’t that far away, but Gilan needed to ride a day or two longer since he lived in Meric.

“Yes, we can go home,” Will replied.

He wanted to walk to Tug, but his friend grabbed his sleeve.

“Not yet. Halt wants to show you something.”

They went to Halt and, in his hands, he was holding his knife.

“Since you’re officially one of us, I thought it would be a great opportunity to expand the family tree.”

With these words, he gave his knife to Will and pointed at the tree. While the tip of his tongue was sticking out of his mouth, Will engraved his name next to Gilan’s. He gave the knife back and embraced Halt and Gilan at once. They walked to their horses, climbed in the saddles and the young men looked at their mentor.

“Let’s go home, shall we?” 


	2. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We all know how Will's parents died, but how did they meet each other in the first place?  
> Daniel is a sailor and on one of his travels, he goes to Arrida. In the harbour, he gets almost trapped by a horse. The rider isn’t a typical man, even more, it’s a girl of his age. She is the most beautiful woman Daniel has ever seen. He falls in love instantly, however, she is acting mysterious, making him curious who this woman is.

It had been a long travel, but at least they were almost there. Daniel, a young man with a heart for adventures, was working on the ship. He was just repairing a rope, when he was called upstairs. He laid his work aside and walked to his friend who was standing on the deck, pointing at the distance.

“Look at that Dan! We’re almost there!”

Far away, the men could see land and their enthusiasm grew. It was Daniel’s first time to Arrida, but his friend had been there already a couple of times.

“I’m telling you, buddy, you should be careful up there.”

Daniel turned towards the man, not sure what he meant.

“How comes? Are there robbers, bandits, poisoned food?”

Rulf shook his head and slapped him on the shoulder.

“None of that all. I’m talking about the women!”

Daniel rolled his eyes. Rulf had talked about that way too often. Not to mention his ‘flame’, as he described his lover.

“Really, are you starting again? You know that I don’t want to talk about it, Rulf,” Daniel replied. But his red-haired friend wasn’t that easy with giving up.

“I know, I know, Dan. But I just have this feeling that you’ll meet your lover here.”

Daniel smirked.

“You know, if you keep telling that to everyone, we all end up like you,” the young man said. “And how would you end up then?” he asked.

Daniel smiled.

“Stuck on a ship with too many stories.”

Both men laughed, but were soon called to prepare the ship for entering the harbour.

The captain of the ship had paid the price to enter the dock and was now sailing to his given spot. It was busy, with people running around, wares being brought ashore from the ships and buyers who were looking for their purchases. There, all in the back, was their ship’s place. A man, standing on the pier, saw them approaching and called his friends to help him out when the crew members would throw the ropes to anchor the ship. Three of them walked to him and were ready to come into action. Daniel waved at them, signing that they wanted to anchor. The man raised his hand, replying he understood the man. Rulf walked to the captain.

“They’re ready whenever you are, sir!” he said, standing next to the man.

“In that case: prepare to dock!” he shouted.

The order was repeated by his first mate, who was now adding instructions.

“Bring down the sails! Bring out the mooring ropes!”

On the ship, everyone was hurrying to obey the orders and soon, the sails were down, rolled and in their place. Daniel, Rulf and another man were holding the ropes and waited for the order to throw them to the men standing on the pier. After that order was given, they threw the ropes down to the men. They caught them and secured them around three metal poles. When the ship was on her place, with bumpers between the wood of the ship and the pier to prevent damages, the gangway was laid down and the captain walked down, his crew waiting for the signal they could follow him. Down, on the jetty, the harbour master was already waiting for him and spread his arms when he saw the man.

“My dear friend, welcome in our harbour!”

They greeted each other by touching their foreheads, their lips and their heads again. Soon after that, the crew could come ashore as well and they helped with taking out the wares and brought them to reserved place the storage house.

After the work was done, Daniel’s friends had made some plans.

“Hey, Dan!” Harry shouted. “Are you coming with us?”

Daniel shook his head.

“No, you guys can go. I’ll stay here a bit longer to help the captain,” he responded.

His friend shrugged and gestured that the others could follow him. Daniel looked at them until they disappeared in the crowd.

“And what are you going to do Rulf?”

Behind him, his friend was taking his belongings and made himself ready to leave.

“Me? I’m going to see if she is still waiting for me. Oh, don’t roll your eyes! I swear, she’s real! And she lives not far from here. You can come with me, if you want?”

Daniel held his hands up in defence.

“No, no, Rulf. I believe you.”

His friend walked past him and gave him a soft bump on his shoulder.

“Then I’ll see you this evening here again, alright?”

“Yes, see you later!” Daniel replied.

He was the only one of the crew who was still near the ship.

“Maybe I should see what this city has to offer,” he mumbled to himself.

He had taken his shoulder bag and was now heading to the warehouse, when he heard a voice shouting.

“Get out of the way!”

He jumped aside and saw that, if he had been slower, a horse would have kicked him or worse, trampled him under his feet.

“Didn’t you see I was walking here?” he said, slightly irritated.

Seriously, how can the man be such an idiot?

“I’m really sorry, but my horse was scared by something and ran all the way up here. Are you alright sir?”

Only then Daniel heard it wasn’t a man, but a woman. When she dismounted, he saw that she must be from his age. His anger was gone within a second and he apologized for his rude remark.

“It is I who should apologize, miss. I should’ve known that it can be busy up here.”

The young woman was wearing light brown pants, made of thin fabric and a white shirt with sleeves up to her elbows. Her boots were made of soft yet strong leather. She wore a scarf to protect her head from the sun and on her waist was a dagger. He could she her face and he liked her eyes the most. They were brown, but open and there was a curious sparkling in it. Daniel didn’t know what to think of her, except that she was beautiful.

“I’d like to talk more, sir, but I need to go home now.”

She mounted her horse again, after being sure that she hadn’t hurt the man, and was heading to home.

“Wait, will I see you again?” Daniel asked her.

A mysterious smile appeared on her lips.

“Let’s meet this evening over there,” she said, pointing to a palm tree.

Daniel nodded and watched how she tapped her horse in the flanks and hurried towards her home.

“Where have you been habibi?”

She saw her father coming to her and already knew what he would say.

“I’ve been to the market father, but then Sunshine was scared by some nasty trick of a kid. She ran away and in the harbour, she almost hit a man. Luckily, he could jump out of the way.”

Her father raised his hands and asked her to calm down with her story.

“Ariyaa, calm down, you’re talking too fast, again,” he said with a smile.

His daughter laughed and retold her story, this time slower.

“And that man, how’s he doing? Not injured I hope?”

She shook her head.

“He’s doing fine, father, really.”

Then, she told him that the two of them would meet again that evening, but her father wasn’t too happy.

“I don’t know habibi, he is a stranger after all. Besides, what will others think? What if they think you’re-”

Ariyaa stopped his rage with a single glance at him.

“I don’t care what they think. I know why we meet and Lutfi will too. It’s just to apologize and maybe become friends, that’s all.”

Yusri sighed and gave up.

“Alright, if you say so. If he seems a decent man to you, you can go. But take your dagger with you.”

Ariyaa kissed him on his cheek.

“Thank you father.”

She then brought her horse to the stable where she brushed it and gave her fresh water and food. After that, she went to her room, dressed herself in a dress and braided her hair. She put on a headscarf and walked to Lutfi.

“There you are,” he said, his tone worried, when she entered the room. “What have you been up to? Yusri said something about you bumping into a man?”

Daniel looked up for maybe the sixth time within a couple of minutes. Was she really coming or did she just said it, without thinking? Or maybe her parents wouldn’t let her go, or- he swallowed. What if she was older than he thought and already married? He didn’t know a lot about the country and the traditions, but he did know that it wasn’t the same as in Araluen. With every minute that passed, he became more nervous and insecure about the meeting. At one point, he decided it was best if they wouldn’t meet and he jumped off the wall he had been sitting on.

“There you are!” he heard behind him.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw the girl from that morning, but this time, she was wearing a dress and a headscarf.

“Sorry that you had to wait so long, my parents were asking questions.”

Ariyaa saw how the expression on his face changed, but it disappeared soon. Her parents were asking questions? Daniel thought that maybe he should cancel the night, but Ariyaa was faster.

“Nothing to worry about, they wanted to know where I was going and at what time I’d be home.”

Daniel sighed in relieve and then turned his attention towards her.

“It’s the first time I’m here, so maybe you can show me the city?”

She tapped with her finger on her chin and slowly nodded. Then, she looked at him with a bright smile.

“Of course! Let’s go!”

Ariyaa took his arm and guided him through the busy streets, pointing at stores, shops and telling stories about everything.

They had been walking around for two hours already, when Ariyaa proposed to go to a small building. Daniel was surprised to see that it was full with people.

“What kind of place is it actually?” he asked her.

“It’s a tea house. The best one of the whole city!”

She walked in front of him and hold his hand to not lose him in the crowd. Men and women greeted her and stared at Daniel. He wasn’t used to have this kind of attention and felt uncomfortable. He didn’t understand anything of what they said, but it looked like that the girl knew them. Heck, he was still referring to her as ‘that girl’ or ‘the young woman’, since he didn’t know her name. He thought it would be rude to ask her, so he didn’t think too much of it. Suddenly, a man approached him and started to talk and, as Daniel thought, asked him questions.

“I’m sorry sir, but I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

The man, clearly confused that Daniel was speaking another language, left him alone and talked with some other guests. Ariyaa tapped his shoulder and he came closer with his head to hear her.

“Let’s go outside again, it’s too busy. I asked the owner if there was some place left, but he said it’s full. However, he did give me some tea and sweets we can eat outside. I know a nice place not far from here.”

The girl guided him to an oasis and luckily, there weren’t a lot of persons here. They sat down under a palm tree and Ariyaa took out the tea, poured it in two cups and gave one to Daniel.

“Be careful, it’s-“ she warned him, but Daniel had taken a sip and almost burned his mouth.

“It’s indeed hot,” he replied, trying to cool down his mouth by drinking from his water bag.

He leaned against the palm tree and enjoyed the view.

“We don’t have anything like this at home,” he said after some minutes silent.

“What does your country look like? Do you have camels? Are there palm trees? What is the climate like? How-” she kept asking questions as if she was firing arrows and Daniel had to hold up his hands to calm the stream down.

“Hold on, not that fast!” he laughed.

She blushed, knowing that she had done it _again_.

“I will answer all your questions, but ask them one by one, okay?”

She nodded in agreement and listened as Daniel told her about Araluen, how the climate was up there, what kind of dishes they ate and everything else she wanted to know.

They talked and talked and the minutes turned into hours. Soon, it would be almost midnight.

Ariyaa was thinking of what else she could ask, when she noticed that the sounds in the street were almost gone. Frightened, she looked at the sky and saw the moon and the stars, shining brightly in the dark night. She jumped up and hastily packed her bag. Daniel, seeing her leaving all of sudden, hurried after her.

“Hold on, please! What’s wrong?” he asked her, holding her wrist slightly.

“It’s the time! I- my parents are going to lecture me and what to think of-” she didn’t finished her sentence, but ran to the tea house to bring the cups back.

Daniel followed her and waited outside for her and she almost passed him.

“Please, wait for me!” he screamed and ran after her.

“No, you don’t understand! I had to be back by now,” she panicked.

Daniel rushed to her, grabbed her arms and looked into her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll guide you home. I promise.”

She tried to get out of his grip and was also shaking her head.

“No, no, you don’t have to. I just need to-”

At that moment, there were some shouts in the streets from drunken men.

“You can say what you want, but I’ll bring you home.”

Daniel finally let go of her, only to be hold by his arm. They didn’t say anything, but Daniel liked it that the woman was holding on to him. When they reached her house, he stopped at the porch.

“It’s been a wonderful evening and I really liked it, but there is one thing I wanted to ask you.”

What he wanted to ask had to wait, when a man ran to them and he could see it was her father.

“Habibi!” he said, as he embraced her. “We were so worried. You were supposed to be at home three hours ago!”

She got out of her father’s arms and looked at Daniel.

“We forgot about the time, but he was so nice to bring me home safely.”

She smiled and the Araluen man felt how his stomach filled itself with butterflies. Another man joined them and kissed her on her forehead.

“Ariyaa, I thought that something had happened to you!”

He saw the unfamiliar man and thanked him.

“Thank you for taking care of my fiancée and bringing her home safely.”

F-fiancée? Daniel felt his heart breaking, but hid it pretty well.

“You’re welcome sir,” he replied, making the man smile.

“A friend of Ariyaa is a friend of mine. Tell me, what’s your name?”

“Daniel, sir. I’m here with the ship from Araluen.”

Lutfi nodded and looked at Yusri.

“I heard about that one. They are the ones from who you bought your wares.”

Yusri’s face lit up when he heard that.

“In that case, I’d like to invite you for lunch tomorrow. Lutfi will wait for you at the ship.”

Daniel was bewildered. He had only brought their daughter and fiancée home and now he was invited for a lunch? They really are that hospitable, Daniel thought. Realizing that they waited for his answer, he replied he would be there. They wished each other a good night and Daniel had turned around, when Ariyaa remembered something.

“Daniel? You wanted to ask me something, but I didn’t reply. What was your question?”

He looked over his shoulder, and said: “That question is already answered. Good night, Ariyaa.”

His friends had teased him all day long when they heard the rumours of Daniel spending time with a woman.

“I told you, I told you!” Rulf said for at least the twelfth time that morning.

“And I’m telling you we won’t end up together. She’s getting married to Lutfi,” Daniel responded.

He had told his best friend about Ariyaa, but had asked him not to do or say anything stupid. “There’s no way we could live together. She belongs here, as I belong in Araluen.”

“Daniel!” a man called from the jetty.

They looked over the railing of the ship to see who it was.

“Are you ready to come?” Lutfi asked him.

“Yes, just give me a minute!”

Daniel went downstairs to grab his bag and hurried to the man. He tripped over his feet, but was caught by the Arridian man.

“Watch your step,” he laughed, helping the man on his feet again.

Daniel then glanced to Rulf.

“I’ll be back at the end of the afternoon. Make sure not to break anything!”

“Be careful not to trip over your feet!”

It was an old joke between the two of them and Rulf watched his friend as he left the harbour with Lutfi.

During the walk they didn’t talk a lot with each other; Lutfi told some things, but it wasn’t what you’d call ‘a deep conversation’ as Daniel had the night before with Ariyaa. Thinking about her made his stomach twist. He had known her for a couple of hours, but he already liked her. It was easy to talk with her and she was a great storyteller. Back at home, he was always shy and more introvert, but with her, he could be himself. Daniel scanned the surrounding and saw more than the previous night. There were a lot of palm trees, fields where they grew some kind of grain and there was also a meadow with animals; camels were they called as Daniel remembered. In front of them, he saw a house with two levels. It had a flat roof and he could see some kind of sun protection on top of them. The house wasn’t made of bricks as he was used to see, but it was made of wood and a mixture of clay to seal it. Daniel glanced at his left and saw that Lutfi quickly looked away. Was there something wrong? The man shrugged and saw someone approaching them.

“Ariyaa,” Daniel said, a smile on his lips and a warm feeling in his heart.

Lutfi noticed the change and nodded.

“She’s a special and wonderful woman. Not only her looks, but also her personality.”

“You must be the luckiest man in the environment to marry her,” Daniel replied sincerely, but he wasn’t prepared for the answer of his new friend.

“Call it what you want, but I’m not a lucky man if I have to marry her.”

The sailor didn’t had any time to ask what he meant because Ariyaa had swung her arms around her soon-to-be husband.

“There you two are! Hurry up, mother is already bringing lunch outside!”

Lutfi whispered something in her ear, making her leave without the men.

“If you want to know what I meant with those words, I suggest you talk with her,” Lutfi said with a mysterious tone.

 _What’s going on here,_ Daniel thought. _First Ariyaa is acting strange and now Lutfi too. Something’s not right, I’m sure of that._ He then followed the man inside the house to have lunch.

They entered a big room, lighted by the sun shine, but thanks to the white walls, it wasn’t warm. There were pillows on the ground and Daniel was friendly pushed to one of them by an older woman, who he assumed must be Ariyaa’s mother. She gave him a cup of tea and hinted that it was hot by waving her hand in front of her mouth as she was trying to cool it down. She wasn’t able of speaking the Common Language, but she did know some words. He replied he understood what she tried to say and thanked her in her own language. He had learned some Arridian words on his way to the country. She was delighted to hear him speaking a bit Arridian and her smile, already friendly and warm, became even bigger.

“My mother already likes you,” Ariyaa said.

She had appeared with the food and placed it in the middle of the pillows on a huge carpet. Lutfi, Yusri and Fatima, Ariyaa’s mother, joined him and they said thanks for the dinner. He had no idea what they were saying, but he waited politely until they were finished. There was seasoned lamb legs and meat of beef and homemade breads. Daniel also saw vegetables and salads. This would be enough to still his hunger until the late evening, that was for sure. Fatima kept saying he had to eat (at least, that’s what he thought she was saying) and meanwhile he had a nice conversation with Yusri. He had ordered some wares from Araluen and was glad to have them. They talked about business and Daniel got to know the family better. Ariyaa was their fourth child and their only daughter. Her brothers were already married and the two oldest had children of their own. They would come to Ariyaa and Lutfi’s wedding. The question if he had a wife made him blush.

“No, sir, I’m not married yet. First I wanted to travel and see the world, get knowledge of other cultures and countries.”

By hearing this, Ariyaa eyed the man. She hated to feel the way she did and wished she could just let it be there, but she couldn’t fall in love with him. She quickly focused on her food when Daniel glimpsed in her direction. He had felt something and was even more determined to find out why everyone was acting so suspicious. His attention was then caught by what seemed to be the desert and he wasn’t sure if he could eat it, but he didn’t had a choice; it would be impolite to refuse it. The empty plates were switched with plates full with sweets of different kinds and Daniel recognized one. He took it, honey dripping down, and took a bit. It’s was very sweet, but he loved it. He closed his eyes and he heard the friendly laughter of the family.

“You have to tell him Ariyaa, it’s only fair! I can see in your eyes that… that you love him.”

Lutfi and Ariyaa were standing on the roof.

“No, it can’t be. I barely know him! Besides, what about our wedding?”

She glared at him and saw that he was laughing.

“Our marriage is nothing! You know that, I know that and soon your father will too.”

She was shocked to hear that.

“Are- are you sure about that? If we marry, then you won’t have to be worried. We can be a happy couple-”

She hadn’t finished her sentence, or he was already shaking his head and turning around.

“Don’t lie to me. We both know why we do this.”

He took her hands in his and glared up to look in her eyes.

“Ariyaa, I really appreciate it, but I can’t let you do this. I have to tell your father, because I can’t bear to be married with you when your heart belongs to…”

At that moment, they heard how someone entered the roof. It was Daniel and he immediately apologized for interrupting them.

“I’m sorry, I thought I’d be alone. I’ll leave you two now.”

He twisted his body and went downstairs, but Lutfi ran after him.

“No, stay here, please. There is something we want to talk about with you.”

He had grabbed Daniel’s arm and slightly pulled it. In his eyes, the sailor saw that there was something, something important. He instantly watched Ariyaa and saw that she was nervous.

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea, Lutfi,” she said, her voice trembling, but Lutfi wanted to be done with this.

“Daniel, you must know that there won’t be a marriage and the reason is that…”

“What do you mean, _no marriage_?”

Yusri couldn’t believe his ears!

“Is it because of this man you don’t want to marry Lutfi anymore?” he demanded Ariyaa.

She was shocked that Lutfi had told it and now her father was blaming Daniel for it!

“No, father it’s not that!” she cried out, afraid to say the real reason.

Daniel wasn’t sure if he wanted to be involved in this conversation and took a few steps back, however, Yusri had other plans.

“I knew it! Your kind can’t be trusted! Tell me, what did you do to her?” he requested, his voice low and Daniel heard a warning tone in it.

Lutfi couldn’t take it anymore; Ariyaa was in problems because of him, Daniel was seen as the problem while, in fact, it was his fault.

“Yusri, it’s because of me!” he shouted.

The older man turned around to see the man crying.

“I am the problem! Don’t blame Ariyaa or Daniel, they’re innocent.”

Yusri was bewildered; they could see it on his face.

“Lutfi, what do you mean?” he asked calmly.

But Lutfi didn’t calm down.

“We can’t marry because… because I will never love a woman!”

Everyone was now in shock, Daniel the most. Why on Earth would they marry if neither of them loved each other? Lutfi breathed heavily and waited for Yusri to understand what he had just told. The man did after a couple of minutes and his eyebrows raised.

“Are you telling me that… that you love _men_?” his voice now low and barely hearable.

Lutfi broke down in tears now his long kept secret was finally out.

“Yes, I love men,” he confirmed the words of Yusri. He expected the man to hit him, curse him or harm him in any other way, but he wasn’t prepared to feel an embrace.

“I already thought so, but I waited until you were brave enough to tell me.”

If Yusri hadn’t hold him, Lutfi would have fallen down on the roof. He couldn’t believe it, how could Yusri take it so well? Daniel and Ariyaa watched the men and, without realizing, came closer to each other.

“So you two decided that if you’d marry, no one would think bad of Lutfi?” Daniel asked them.

They had moved inside and Yusri had asked his wife to prepare some tea and sit with them. She deserved to know it too, so Yusri was translating everything for her.

“Lutfi and I are friends since were little. His parents had been friends with mine and when they became sick, they asked my parents to take care of Lutfi as their own son. I always had a feeling he was kind of different, but it wasn’t until he told me that he was into men.”

Ariyaa spoke with a soft voice and stared at the ground, too anxious to look her parents in their eyes.

“That’s why we came up with the wedding and everything went well until the moment Sunshine almost killed you.”

Daniel blushed, not knowing if he understood it well.

“Lutfi immediately knew something was going on, because I could barely eat, drink or sleep. I could only think of-”

She wasn’t sure if this was the right time and place to talk about her feelings, but everyone understood what was going on.

“There was only one thing, or actually one person, she could think of and that was you, Daniel,” Lutfi finished her unfinished sentence.

The atmosphere changed the moment they all stared at him. He felt so embarrassed and wished he had never been here in the first place.

“I’m really sorry for this, it had never been my intention to bring you on different thoughts Ariyaa.”

He made a decision and got up from his pillow.

“I thank you all for your hospitality, but I need to go now. We are supposed to sail back at the end of the afternoon and there are still things that need to be done.”

Quickly, he gathered his bag and hurried back to the ship. There, Rulf saw him approaching and asked how it was, but Daniel didn’t answer. He throw his bag in his hammock and helped the others with the last preparations.

“Are you sure habibi?” Yusri asked her.

She nodded.

“Yes, I’m sure. You now know that we only wanted to marry to save Lutfi’s name, but now I thought of it, I want to follow Daniel. I love him, although it might sound strange. We barely know each other, but being with him makes me so happy.”

She had lowered her head and was now forced to look up when her father raised her chin.

“If that’s what you want, my child, then you should follow your heart.”

He kissed her forehead, not knowing if and when they would see each other again. She said farewell to her mother too and embraced both her parents. Together with her friend, she rushed to the harbour where the ship was ready to sail back to Araluen. On the ship, Daniel glanced in the distance, wondering if he would ever she her again.

“You’ll see her again the next time we go to Arrida,” Rulf said in an attempt to cheer him up.

“But then she might be married or even not interested in me anymore.”

The captain gave instructions to his first man and he called Daniel and Rulf.

“You two, take the gangway of the pier and lay it inside the ship!”

The men walked to the wooden plank and lifted it up when they heard screaming on their right.

“Hey Dan, did your girl have black hair?” Rulf asked with an amusement tone.

“For the last time: she isn’t my girl and I don’t know. I’ve never seen her hair. She wore a headscarf, remember?” Daniel replied irritated.

“Then who’s that woman?”

Only then his friend glared up to see Ariyaa running to the ship.

“Daniel! Please, wait!”

Daniel and Rulf let the gangway fall down and she ran to it, only to stop in front of it. Daniel had walked down and was confused to see her here. She was wearing the same clothes as when they met, but her hair was now braided and she had two bags with her.

“I talked with my parents and they are okay with my decision. It will be hard, to live apart, but they want me to be happy.”

She was talking too fast and Daniel lifted his hands up to stop her.

“Slow down! I don’t understand anything you’re saying.”

But in fact, he did. He just wanted to be sure that he had heard it well.

“What I meant was: if you’re okay with it and your captain of course, then I want to travel to Araluen with you.”

Instantly, Daniel turned around and saw his captain scratching his chin.

“You know what they say: women on a ship brings bad luck. But, since she’s the daughter of one of our most important purchasers, I allow it. But only this time!”

They both smiled and walked the gangway. Rulf helped her to enter the ship and Ariyaa couldn’t wait for the journey that was ahead of her.

Late in the evening, when everyone was sleeping, the woman was standing on the deck, watching the stars. It was scary that she didn’t know when she would see her parents again, or her brothers or her friends. Actually, she started to doubt her decision, but that feeling went away when she felt two hands on her shoulders. She took them and placed them around her. Daniel laid his head on her shoulder and kissed her gently in her neck. He too was scared about what would happen when they were back, how his parents would react and his friends, but he was sure that the two of them would be very happy together. Sometimes you just met someone and that person knew you within seconds. That was what happened with them. They were complete strangers, didn’t know each other, but there was one thing they knew for sure: together, they could do anything.

They stood there in silence, until the first sunshine appeared at the horizon.


End file.
